Friday, 09 June 2006

The Lookoff to Cape Blomidon Provincial Park (Nova Scotia)

I ended up spending the night in the common room. I had the TV on, a good fire going in the stove and a pot on top heating up water for tea when Vince the campsite owner (originally from Canvey Island, Essex, who came to Canada 27 years ago) came in and said I was welcome to sleep on one of the sofas rather than in the tent in the rain. I was quite happy to sleep in the tent but it made a pleasant change to have somewhere to relax. He even went out into the rain to fetch me in a fresh barrow full of wood for the stove. Channel-hopping was easy with only 2 channels to choose from. (CSI and 3 episodes of My Name Is Earl) I did learn that this is the warmest spring on record in Nova Scotia, but that the current temperatures are below average. :-(

The World Cup makes the news here too. Football is the second most popular participation sport after ice-hockey.

The view from the Look-Off was appearing and disappearing from view as the mist/cloud blew through the campsite. I was packed and ready to go when Vince appeared, and we spent quite some time chatting, so it wasn't until 10 am that I finally put bum to saddle. From the Look-Off to Scots Bay was about 10 km, mostly downhill to nearly sea-level so it didn't take very long. I stopped off for a cup of tea at the Sandollar Cafe. From there I cycled along to the very end of the road, pulled on my walking boots, packed my rucksack, and left the bike for safe-keeping at the closest house, before setting off on the Cape Split Trail. The trail is about 7 km long and rises gradually through the forest to about 130m and then drops slowly to about 80m high at the end. There's not much to see along the way, and the path was very wet and muddy, but there were some fine views at the end of the cape. The tide was going out and I could see and hear the eddy's in the water as it swept past the end of the headland. I sat and watched the seagulls while I had a picnic lunch, before embarking on the return trip, with only my footprints for company.

Today is a positively balmy 19 C as the wind has shifted around to the south (so again I was cycling into a headwind as I headed back from the cape. I stopped once again at the Sandollar Cafe for a fish and chip supper. Considering the forecast I've been lucky with the weather - I'm happy for it to rain at night if it's dry during the day. While I was eating, miraculuously the sun came out. I was eager to get outside into the sunshine so I hardly let my food go down before I was back outside on the bike. I figured I could take it easy, but I really had no choice, uphill into the wind. I was singing my way uphill to take my mind off the toil, when I startled a woman doing her gardening; I hadn't seen her behind a bush as I cycled up the hill. I said an embarrassed sheepish hello, and she said that she though it was her horse that was singing. Good to know that I sing like a horse!

I'd just set off again when a car coming the other way slowed down and stopped. It was Gail, the lady from Florida who I'd met in Annapolis Royal on Monday. We had a chat by the side of the road about what we'd been doing since Monday; she'd just been hiking in Blomidon Park where I was heading. I promised to look them up in Wolfville where she and Tom were staying if I got the chance.

Soon after we parted ways I turned off the 358 onto Stewart Mountain Road. This was an unpaved gravel road that luckily for me was all downhill in the direction I was going. Fun though it was to hurtle down it's rough surface when I got back onto the paved Pereau Road I soon noticed that my rear wheel was slightly buckled due to a broken spoke. I only had a few km left to do to Blomidon Park where I was planning to camp. The road up to the campsite was incredibly steep - or it seemed so to me anyway - and for the first time I can remember I had to get off the bike and push. I just had no energy in my legs - or the mental strength to keep cycling. Once past the worst, I cycled the rest of the way up to the park office but had to rest before I could register.

The broken spoke is on the freewheel/cassette side of the rear wheel which I don't have the tools for so I will need to get to a bike shop to get it repaired. I pitched the tent in a nice open grassy area to make the most of the setting sun and hopefully the morning sunshine too. It was a beautiful evening as the sun set to the west so the moon was rising to the east.

Distance: 39.4 km
Cycling time: 2:38
Total distance: 1335.7 km